Trustees are the people in charge of a charity. They play a vital role, volunteering their time and working together to make important decisions about the charity's work. Trustees' Week is an annual event to showcase the great work that trustees do and highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference. Trustees’ Week 2015 is 2–8 November, and is being officially launched at the NCVO / BWB Trustee Conference on 2 November 2015.

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Alison Sheffield from BVSC describes the organisation's involvement in Trustees' Week and the new training workshops available for people interested in becoming trustees.

As part of
our Trustees’ Week celebrations at BVSC, we put on a series of training
workshops for people who were interested in becoming a trustee but intimidated
by the jargon and unsure of the responsibilities.This decision was made in response to earlier
one-off training sessions held at BVSC that highlighted a need and desire for
deeper discussion.

So during
October, 20 people of all ages from the private and voluntary sector – both new
trustees and potential trustees – met on a weekly basis at Brewin Dolphin on
Colmore Row to hear from key speakers and explore ideas around charities,
governance and being part of an effective Board through case studies and group
discussion.

Our high
quality speakers included Tracey O’Brien, David Oxtoby and Karl George MBE, and
the group were put through their paces exploring difficult themes which led to
lively conversations and in-depth questions.

Feedback
provided shows that the Series was successful and met the objectives of
delegates, improving their understanding of a trustee’s role in the voluntary
sector. Some will use the skills learnt to make their Board more effective
while others gained the confidence to approach charities with trustee
vacancies.

Our final
celebratory session on Wednesday 6th November, to coincide with
Trustees’ Week, brought in a number of local community organisations looking to
refresh or enhance their Board. A short introduction from each of the charity
representatives painted a colourful picture of the fantastic work that
Birmingham’s voluntary sector achieves and gave our delegates a good insight
into the kind of role they could undertake.

This fresh
approach to trusteeships has proved a real success and we hope to put further
sessions on in 2014. Becoming a trustee of a charity is a valuable way for
skilled professionals to get involved in their local community but there are
barriers that prevent them from applying and that prevent organisations from
reaching them. Rumours of incompetent Boards, resistance to change, hefty
responsibilities and complicated legal requirements all act as obstacles to
bringing in the best people as charity trustees. But this Series went someway
to tackle that, as one delegate noted, “the speaker at the first session was
delightful and demystified the role of the Trustee in plain English!”

In these
times of new funding sources and changing legal structures we need to make sure
our charitable Boards are made up of the very best people and equipped with the
very best knowledge and skills. Keep an eye on www.bvsc.org/trustees for information about future training
opportunities and current Board vacancies.